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filling before staining ?

03-20-2002, 12:59 PM

Is it possible to fill ,say red oak for example, before staining. I would think that if the wood was sanded well after the filler that the stain should come out well ,then finish with a poly. I'm worried about applying the stain first because then when I sand the filler after, I don't want sand so deep that I sand the stain layer.

roster. You want to fill ( If you talking about nail holes or things like that) first then sand. Then apply your stain. Red oak will take stain well. with it open grain it will go faily deep in to the wood. Try to find a fill that will take stain. When you sand between coats of the poly use 320 or finer sand paper. If you are planing on using a water based stain you may have to sand between coats as it will raize the grain. I hope this helps.
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In my experience, the shelves are filled with fillers that claim to take stain, but none do. I've learned the hard way to stain first, then fill with a filler tinted to match the stained wood. I have a room full of projects with little light spots.

Re: water based poly (another lesson learned the hard way): first use a "pre-stain" designed to be used with water-based stains. Min-Wax makes one that works pretty well. But before doing that, try this:

Wipe the unstained, unfinished wood with a wet sponge. Let it dry. The grain is up. Then gently shave the surface with a new, clean razor blade. Vacuum; then repeat the process. Then use the pre-stain.

This sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't, and the results are much better than just trying to sand off the raised grain; I've found that the sanding doesn't really cut off the raised grain, but just sort of smooshes it down to rise again.

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RGad...thanks for the suggestion about the razor as I haven't tried that yet. Have you heard about a filler made by BIX which is mixed with the stain? I read it in another forum recently. (can't remember which one) I do remember it was suppose to be sold at HD. The HD here doesn't carry it and have not yet been able to locate the product. Just wondering if anyone else knows and if so how well it works?

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This might be a little late, but Bix makes a Stain Putty(available at HD) that is a powder. You mix it with whatever stain you are using on the project. I stain the wood, mix and apply the stain, let dry, sand, and finish normally.